Our count of USPTO records shows 1,025 ex parte reexamination requests filed in Fiscal Year 2026. The Office’s own series shows 491 the year before. The two counts are built differently, so read the jump as roughly double, not exactly.
Before you read
How many ex parte reexamination requests were filed in FY2025, by the USPTO’s own count?
491. Our count of FY2026 records, on a different basis, is 1,025.
Part 1 of 3
Ex parte reexamination is the Office’s older way to re-review a patent: anyone can file a request, and an examiner decides whether it raises a substantial new question of patentability. Filings jumped in FY2026, which ran from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
Different bases: the FY2025 figure is the Office’s; the FY2026 figure is ours. 1,025 ÷ 491 ≈ 2.1.
Source
Part 2 of 3
The comparison uses the best figure available for each year, and they aren’t the same kind of count. That is why the headline says “about.”
The tempting reading
Reexam requests exactly doubled, from 491 to 1,025.
What the numbers support
About 2.1 times as many, on two different counts. The Office’s official FY2026 total had not been published when we checked; when it is, the comparison will be like for like.
The USPTO’s official FY2026 reexamination total had not been published as of October 16, 2026.
The calendar year tells the same story. Our count shows 751 requests filed from January 1 to October 14, 2026. Recent weeks are probably undercounted, because filed requests can take time to appear in the Open Data Portal.
Part 3 of 3
The takeaway
Plan for reexamination as a mainstream challenge, and count carefully when you compare years.
Each item is marked in the story with a dashed outline. We update the story when the official record confirms or corrects it.
Precedential decisions bind the Board within their designated scope. Informative decisions show the Office’s reasoning but do not bind the Board. Court opinions are cited for what they decided; later history was checked on the date shown above.